Rotatable stopcock for a male coupling having a 90 degrees offset connecting piece

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a rotatable stopcock inserted into a male coupling ( 2 ) having a 90° offset connecting piece ( 3 ) for connecting to fluid lines. A contact hole ( 6 ) for receiving a female pin ( 8 ), which is connected to the stopcock ( 1 ) and which is provided with a continuous hole ( 9 ) having a 90° angle curve for connecting the coupling housing ( 5 ) to the connecting piece ( 3 ), is situated along the straight extension of the male coupling ( 2 ), and the end of the said female pin is connected to a turning knob ( 7 ) while forming one piece. In order to be able to securely fix the stopcock ( 1 ) to the coupling housing ( 5 ) after insertion into the contact hole ( 6 ), the housing wall ( 10 ) comprises a peripheral flange ring ( 11 ) on the contact hole ( 6 ). For the same purpose, two ring segments ( 13 ) located opposite one another are shaped onto the front wall ( 12 ) of the turning knob ( 7 ). Said ring segments are concentric to the housing wall ( 10 ) and are provided with detent catches ( 15 ) which, after elastic expansion of the ring segments ( 13 ), engage behind the flange ring ( 11 ) with positive engagement when inserting the female pin ( 8 ) into the contact hole ( 6 ). A separate detent limb ( 22 ) is also provided on the front wall ( 12 ) of the turning knob ( 7 ) and is shaped onto the front wall ( 12 ) of the turning knob ( 7 ) on one side and is provided with two inwardly pointing detent teeth ( 24 ) on the other side. Said detent teeth engage inside a detent notch ( 25 ) projecting from the housing wall ( 10 ) in order to lock the turning knob ( 7 ) in the open position of the stopcock ( 1 ).

DESCRIPTION

[0001] The invention pertains to a rotatable stopcock for a plug-type coupling with an angled connecting piece for connecting fluid lines and with a contact hole that is situated along the extension of one of the two lines and serves for inserting a hollow pin that is connected to the stopcock, wherein said hollow pin is provided with a through-hole that is angled by 90E in order to connect the coupling housing to the connecting piece, and wherein the pin is sealed relative to the contact hole of the coupling housing directly behind the through-hole by means of a ring seal and provided with a turning knob that can be fixed relative to the coupling housing in the axial direction of the contact hole.

[0002] A stopcock of this type is, for example, known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,545, with this stopcock being used in connection with a connecting piece and a perpendicular outgoing line. In this case, the hollow pin is fixed in the axial direction of the contact hole by means of a sleeve and a union nut and protrudes from the sleeve with a flattened cylindrical rod. A turning knob is attached to this rod and fixed thereon by means of a screw.

[0003] Consequently, this stopcock consists of many individual parts that need to be assembled and connected to the housing of the connecting piece in order to ensure that the stopcock is able to fulfill its intended function. However, this assembly and connection process is associated with high production and assembly costs.

[0004] In plug-type couplings for fluid lines that convey fuel, it is particularly important to interrupt the fuel flow by means of a stopcock before the coupling is disengaged. Although this could, in principle, be achieved by utilizing a conventional shut-off valve, this would also require a large number of individual parts, as well as their assembly.

[0005] The present invention is based on the objective of developing a stopcock for a plug-type coupling of the initially described type which can be inexpensively manufactured, as well as easily handled and mounted in the contact hole of the plug-type coupling.

[0006] According to the invention, this objective is attained due to the fact that the housing wall on the contact hole contains a peripheral flange, and the fact that two opposing ring segments are integrally formed onto the end wall of the turning knob, wherein said ring segments extend concentrically to the outer wall and are provided with inwardly directed detent catches that positively engage behind the flange ring after elastically expanding the ring segments during the insertion of the hollow pin into the contact hole.

[0007] Due to the design of the housing of the plug-type coupling in accordance with the invention and the integrated stopcock, the fluid flow through the plug-type coupling can be rapidly and reliably interrupted and released again in an equally simple fashion. The hollow pin also is reliably positioned in the contact hole by the ring segments and, in particular, their engagement behind the flange ring of the coupling.

[0008] In order to ensure that the turning knob can be easily taken hold of and turned, the ring segments on the outer wall are usually knurled or ribbed. In order to reliably fix the turning knob in the open position, it is, according to another embodiment of the invention, proposed that a detent limb with two inwardly protruding detent teeth and which extends past the outer wall be arranged between the two ring segments, wherein said detent teeth cooperate with a detent notch integrally formed onto the outer wall of the coupling housing in such a way that the turning knob is locked in the open position of the stopcock.

[0009] One embodiment of the stopcock according to the invention is illustrated in the figures and described in greater detail below. The figures show:

[0010]FIG. 1, a side view of a plug-type coupling with an angled connecting piece and a stopcock, wherein the stopcock is partially sectioned in this figure;

[0011]FIG. 2, a top view of the same plug-type coupling with a stopcock;

[0012]FIG. 3, a front view of FIG. 1, wherein the stopcock is in the closed position;

[0013]FIG. 5, a perspective representation of the coupling housing;

[0014]FIG. 6, a perspective representation of the stopcock;

[0015]FIG. 7, a longitudinal section through an empty coupling housing;

[0016]FIG. 8, a longitudinal section through the corresponding shut-off valve;

[0017]FIG. 9, a section through the shut-off valve along the line IX-IX in FIG. 8;

[0018]FIG. 10, the coupling housing according to FIG. 6 with an inserted shut-off valve in the open position, and

[0019]FIG. 11, a representation according to FIG. 10 of the coupling housing with an inserted shut-off valve, however, turned by 90E.

[0020] The stopcock that is identified by the reference symbol 1 in the figures serves for releasing and interrupting the fluid flow into a plug-type coupling 2 that is provided with a connecting piece 3 for producing a connection with a not-shown fluid line and angled relative to the coupling by 90E. In the embodiment shown, the plug-type coupling 2 contains an opening 4 on the left side for inserting a not-shown part that is conventionally provided with a peripheral holding rib shortly before the inserting end and can be locked in the coupling opening 4.

[0021] The perspective representation of the coupling housing 5 shown in FIG. 5 indicates that a contact hole 6 is arranged along an axial extension of the opening 4 in order to rotatably accommodate the stopcock 1 that is also illustrated in the form of a perspective representation in FIG. 6.

[0022] The coupling housing 5 may be manufactured of hard plastic or of a suitable metal alloy by means of an injection molding process. However, the stopcock 1 is integrally manufactured from a hard-elastic plastic material. According to FIGS. 8 and 9, the stopcock consists of a turning knob 7 with a hollow pin 8 that is integrally formed thereon. The central hollow pin 8 that is angled by 90E contains a central through-hole 9 that is also angled by 90E. This through-hole begins at the end face along an axial extension of the opening 4 and ends along an axial extension of the connecting piece 3, namely angled by 90E.

[0023] The outside diameter of the hollow pin 8 is adapted to the inside diameter of the contact hole 6 in the region situated on both sides of the connecting piece 3 and said pin can be turned relative to this region of the contact hole. The contact hole 6 contains a stepped hole widening 6′ toward the inserting region and ends with a conical hole widening 6″.

[0024] At the end of the conical widening 6″, the housing wall 10 is provided with a peripheral flange ring 11 that serves for axially fixing the stopcock 1 relative to the coupling housing 5.

[0025] Two opposing ring segments 13 are integrally formed onto the end face 12 of the turning knob 7, wherein said ring segments extend concentrically to the outer wall 10 of the housing 5. The outside of these ring segments is provided with knurling 14 for easy grasping and turning of the turning knob 7. The inner side of the ring segments 13 is provided with detent catches 15 that slide over the flange ring 11 after elastically expanding the ring segments 13 during the insertion of the hollow pin 8 into the contact hole 6. Subsequently, these detent catches positively engage behind the flange ring as illustrated in FIG. 11.

[0026] In order to reliably prevent the stopcock 1 from being pressed out of the contact hole 6 due to a high fluid pressure, the detent surfaces 16 of the detent catches 15 form an angle a of more than 90E relative to the radial contact surface 17 of the flange ring 11, with said angle being measured opposite the attachment direction “A” of the turning knob 7.

[0027] The outside diameter of the hollow pin 8 contains a step 18 towards the end face 12 which corresponds to the stepped widening 6′ in the contact hole 6. In this case, a ring seal 21 for preventing fluid from escaping at the turning knob 7 is installed between the opposing radial ring surfaces 19 and 20.

[0028] In order to lock the stopcock in the open position, one additional detent limb 22 is provided on the end face 12 of the turning knob 7 in the region between the two ring segments 13, wherein said detent limb also extends past the outer wall 10 and points in the direction of the bent through-hole 9 with its expandable end 23. The detent limb 22 is also provided with two detent teeth 24 on its inner side as indicated in FIG. 9. A detent notch 25 is arranged on the housing wall 10, namely at the same distance from the flange ring 11. This detent notch is aligned relative to the detent teeth 24 of the detent limb 22 in such a way that the turning knob 7 is locked in the open position (see FIG. 10) of the stopcock.

[0029] List of reference symbols 1 Stopcock 2 Plug-type coupling 3 Connecting piece 4 Opening 5 Coupling housing 6 Contact hole 6′ Stepped hole widening 6″ Conical hole widening 7 Turning knob 8 Hollow pin 9 Angled through-hole 10 Housing wall 11 Peripheral flange ring 12 End wall 13 Ring segments 14 Knurling 15 Detent catches 16 Detent surfaces 17 Contact surface 18 Stepped widening 19 Radial ring surface (from 6 to 6′) 20 Radial ring surface (from 8 to 18) 21 Ring seal 22 Detent limb 23 Expandable end 24 Detent teeth 25 Detent notch 

1. Stopcock for a plug-type coupling (2) with an angled connecting piece (3) for connecting fluid lines and with a contact hole (6) that is situated along the extension of one of the two lines and serves for inserting a hollow pin (8) that is connected to the stopcock (1), wherein said hollow pin is provided with a through-hole (9) that is angled by 90E in order to connect the coupling housing (5) to the connecting piece (3), and wherein the pin (8) is sealed relative to the contact hole (6) of the coupling housing (5) directly behind the through-hole (9) by means of a ring seal (21) and provided with a turning knob (7) that can be fixed relative to the coupling housing (5) in the axial direction of the contact hole (6), characterized by the fact that the housing wall (10) on the contact hole (6) contains a peripheral flange ring (11), and by the fact that two opposing ring segments (13) are integrally formed onto the end wall (12) of the turning knob (7), wherein said ring segments extend concentrically to the housing wall (10) and are provided with inwardly directed detent catches (15) that positively engage behind the flange ring [(11)] after elastically expanding the ring segments (13) during the insertion of the hollow pin (8) into the contact hole (7) [sic; (6)].
 2. Stopcock according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that a detent limb (22) that also extends past the housing wall (10) is provided on the turning knob (7) in the region between the two ring segments (13), wherein the elastically expandable end (23) of said detent limb points in the direction of the bent through-hole (9), and wherein the inner side of the detent limb contains two detent teeth (24) that, in the open position of the stopcock (1), cooperate with a detent notch (25) integrally formed onto the housing wall (10) of the coupling housing (5) in such a way that the turning knob (7) is locked in the open position of the stopcock (1).
 3. Stopcock according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the fact that the detent surfaces (16) of the detent catches (15) form an angle α of more than 90° relative to the radial contact surface (17) of the flange ring (11), with said angle being measured opposite the attachment direction of the turning knob (7). 